Pre-Qualified vs. Preapproved: What’s the Difference?
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Pre-qualification and preapproval sound similar, but typically only one — preapproval — will get real estate agents and sellers to take you seriously.
In today's competitive market, agents likely will require you to be preapproved before showing you properties.
But there's a wrinkle to keep in mind. Lenders use their own terms to describe the different application and approval phases. For simplicity, we're using the terms "pre-qualification" to refer to an initial, less formal phase and "preapproval" to refer to a phase involving documentation of financial information and a credit check.
Mortgage loans from our partners
on New American Funding
on New American Funding
on GO Mortgage
GO Mortgage
4.0
NerdWallet rating4.0
NerdWallet ratingon GO Mortgage
Mortgage loans from our partners
on New American Funding
on New American Funding
on GO Mortgage
GO Mortgage
4.0
NerdWallet rating4.0
NerdWallet ratingon GO Mortgage
on Veterans United
Veterans United